Violent Femmes

The Violent Femmes â€” formed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the early 1980s â€” are an American alternative rock band consisting of three members.

Gordon Gano (singer/guitarist), Brian Ritchie (bassist), and Victor DeLorenzo? (percussionist) founded the group and were discovered (and subsequently forgotten) by James Honeyman-Scott (of The Pretenders) when the band was playing on a street corner in front of the Milwaukee venue that The Pretenders would be playing later that night. The band signed to Slash Records and released a self-titled album that they had recorded in July of 1982. The music was an innovative combination of American folk music and indie rock. The lyrics were the common adolescent themes of yearning for love, sex and affection. The group quickly gained a small cult following that never burgeoned into widespread popularity, although a few songs from this album did get some recognition ("Add It Up", "Blister in the Sun", "Gone Daddy Gone" and "Kiss Off". The debut album went platinum 10 years after its release, the only album ever to a...